Monday, December 28, 2009

Dream Life by Lauren Mechling

Dream Life by Lauren Mechling.Publisher: Delacorte Books For Young Readers.Pages: 336.Release Date: January 12, 2010.

Claire Voyante's first semester at Henry Hudson High School was eventful, to say the least. As she heads into her second semester, things are calming down a bit. But Claire has a few secrets that are getting harder to keep. Her biggest secret of all? The onyx and ivory cameo necklace her grandmother gave her for her 15th birthday. Ever since she started wearing it, her dreams have been coming to her in black and white and turning out to be oddly prophetic.

Becca’s been hanging out with her old prep school friends and never seems to have time for Claire anymore. And soon, Claire discovers why—there’s a secret group of society girls with a mysterious identity. And, turns out, a mysterious enemy who’s out to get them. The second she sniffs out trouble, Claire jumps on the case. But is it someone close to Claire who’s in danger again—or could it be Claire herself whose life is at stake?

Dream Life was a terrific follow-up to Dream Girl. We were introduced to a new adventure, an onslaught of new characters and even more of Kiki’s crazy attitude.

I enjoyed this one a lot more. Unlike the first one, it became quite clear what the story was in Dream Life right away. While I don’t think the dreams were as intense as they were in Dream Girl, they made a lot more sense and fit in more with the chain of events written in this one. The dreams foreshadowed- oddly albeit amusingly- the clues that Claire eventually cracks, and it makes for perfect ‘aha!’ moments.

I really enjoyed the new characters as well. None of them replaced the extreme favoritism that I hold for Claire, Becca & Andy. But as small as they were, they were crucial to the story and made things ten times more entertaining. Especially Alex- Kiki’s birthday party was probably my favorite scene of the entire book.

Overall, I thought it was much better than Dream Girl. More action, more adventure, more romance and more of Claire’s sarcastic mindset. The perfect easy, entertaining read! If you haven’t picked up Dream Girl & pre-ordered Dream Life today, I definitely suggest it!